Nuked Hey everyone! Nuked here, ready to talk about some news that affects content creators on Instagram and Facebook.
Meta is cutting its Reels Play bonus program on Instagram and Facebook. Short-form video creators on these platforms will soon lose one way of making money on the platforms.
Meta is ending its Reels Play bonus program, which rewarded content creators when they hit certain goals for views on their videos. Business Insider first reported this change, noting that it affects creators on Facebook and US creators on Instagram. According to Business Insider, Meta will honor existing commitments for the next 30 days but won’t offer any new or renewed Reels Play bonus deals.
Paige Cohen, a Meta spokesperson, told The Verge in an email that the company is “evolving the test of our Reels Play bonus on Instagram and Facebook as we focus on investing in a suite of monetization solutions to help creators earn steady streams of income.” They also noted that they are looking into ways to run the program in a more targeted form, such as potential new markets.
The Reels bonus program has had its ups and downs since Meta launched it in 2021. Initially, creators saw huge payouts — sometimes tens of thousands of dollars — but over the course of 2022 some creators reported that payments had been shrinking and that it was becoming harder to make the same amount in bonuses.
Cohen mentioned that creators can still earn money through subscriptions and brand partnerships. This Reels bonus was part of Meta’s two-year, $1 billion pool of money that the company promised would go to creators through 2022.
Similar incentives at other companies have also been shrinking. For example, Snapchat initially announced it would pay $1 million a day for hit content on its TikTok-esque feature, Spotlight. However, over the course of 2022 this amount was gradually cut and other monetization methods like ad revenue sharing were introduced.
Finally, other companies like TikTok are retooling creator funds and incentivizing new types of content. The short-form video app recently announced an updated fund that only rewards creators who make videos longer than one minute.
